Water Element
by CarbineExE
Summary: Aang wakes up from the iceberg, but doesn't remember who he is. This is a retelling of ATLA with a tweest. There will be bloodshed. There will be romance. There will be laughter. There will be tragedy. There will be action. There will be death. There will be fluff, and everything that makes a story great.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Pilot**

 **Hello, CarbineExE here with my first fic. I decided to retell the entire story of the Aang simply because I can lol. I wasn't going to post chapters until I finished the story because I know I get lazy, but I couldn't help myself. I will be eventually covering all three books that will have similar circumstances, circumstances I add because I feel it goes toward character and friendship development, and it won't be in the regular order either. I'm not a Kataang fan, so you know where this is going towards the end of it all hehe.**

 **But enjoy, praise and criticism are welcome as long as it is not bashful. But any review will suffice. =)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA or any of the characters, with the exception of a few OCs.**

* * *

 _Four nations, air, water, earth and fire, all lived together in peace and harmony. They thrived, traded goods and experiences, war strategies, and each other's lives. This all came to an end when the Fire Nation had begun seeking dominance over all the nations with the Coronation of Fire Lord Sozin to the throne. The nations then became divided as the Fire Nation began to base their troops in other lands, controlling who could leave and enter a country, and controlling what goods and services were allowed. It tore communication apart and set a worldwide hatred of the Fire Nation over all the nations. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, and Sozin's former friend could stop him, however, he vanished._

 _My brother and I used to sit and listen to our father read these stories to us past curfew so that the guards never knew we were learning. Father used to read us stories of the Northern Water Tribe, the Air Nomads, and all the spiriLal creatures that we couldn't see, but that the avatar could. It fascinated me to read so much that I used to sneak into Father's room to read the waterbending scrolls so that I could learn how to control my waterbending and maybe one day, free us from the Fire Nation. Sokka says it's wishful thinking, but I believe I can save this nation._

Katara gasped as she felt her diary being snatched out of her hands by her older brother.

"'Oh, Sokka says it's wishful thinking'," Sokka dramatically recited from his younger sister's diary. "'But _I believe_ I can save this nation'. You should put an exclamation mark at the end, it'd be more fitting," Sokka teased.

"Sokka! Give it back, that's not funny!" Katara cried out angrily, attempting to snatch the book out of his hand, knowing her efforts were futile since she was at least a foot shorter than him.

"Say please," Sokka continued to tease. Katara groaned inwardly and outwardly.

"For the love of La, how old are you?"

"I'm 20, but that won't stop me from messing with you," Sokka chuckled as he brought his arm low enough for Katara to reach, then raised it back up when she jumped for it.

"Sok-KA!" Katara yelled, almost immediately, causing both of them to freeze. Sokka looked Katara in her eyes and put a finger to his lips, indicating for her to remain silent. Katara slowed her breathing, and waited to make sure that they weren't by any passing soldiers. When they thought the cost was clear, Sokka sighed heavily and gave Katara her diary back.

"You should be more careful with how loud you yell," Sokka scolded. Katara frowned.

"It was your fault, you took my diary and _read_ it," Katara nagged.

Suddenly Fire Nation soldiers invaded the house and seized the siblings by the arms. "You two are causing a ruckus _again_ ," one of the soldiers scolded, striking fear into Sokka and Katara as to what they were going to do with them. This wasn't the first time they had gotten in trouble, yet the level of punishment always seemed to increase with every infraction.

The Fire Nation soldiers had taken over the Southern Water Tribe back when they were children, taking the men to fight in their wars, and killing anyone who was a bender in the village. They had killed Katara and Sokka's mother believing that she was the only waterbender left in the village, not knowing that it was truly Katara.

The Water Tribe were a peaceful people, and typically kept things quiet for the sake of their safety, and the keep things simple while the Fire Nation soldiers were in control. However, to keep the intimidation levels high, and to remain fearful, the Fire Nation soldiers had often punished them heavily for small things, such as making too much noise, or having gatherings. Sokka and Katara had been the liveliest bunch since they had arrived and usually took the bulk of the punishment for the other villagers. They often would intervene whenever they caught one of the other villagers being punished or reprimanded. Sometimes they would be refused the right to eat or drink water for a day. Sometimes they would be held in confinement separate from one another.

This particular incident seemed to be a last straw with the soldiers as Katara and Sokka were roughly handled and taken to the Fire Nation commander of the village, Commander Ji Huong.

"Sir!" Sokka and Katara were thrown roughly into the center of the room before the commander. "We found these two causing a ruckus again," the soldier who had Sokka snitched.

The Commander Ji turned around from his position in front of his window. "You know," he began, "I had high hopes for you two. I had hoped that you would conform to the rules like everyone else has. Sokka, you are almost at the age to where you will be trained and sent off to fight in the war."

He looked down at the siblings in disdain. "You just don't fucking learn!" He shoved his foot into Sokka's gut with a swift kick, eliciting a loud groan from Sokka as he spat out blood.

"Sokka!" Katara jumped to move to her brother's side, but was grabbed by her arms by two other soldiers. The urge to turn the snow into ice and kill them all was strong within her, but she couldn't risk losing and them finding out that she was a waterbender.

"Hold the wench back," Commander Ji instructed his soldiers about Katara. "10 strikes with the whip." They all nodded and dragged Katara outside to be whipped publicly. This had only happened once before in the past, with a man who refused to be dragged to fight in the war. He was killed after he was whipped.

Katara struggled against the soldiers as they dragged her to the center of the village, Water Tribe women and children gathering around to watch the commotion, none moving to help Katara. They often wondered why Katara and Sokka rebelled so much, and why they wouldn't just do as they were told. Perhaps they had lost sympathy for the pair who had lost both of their parents despite the fact that they had defended them on several occasions.

The soldiers tied Katara up to a wooden pole that was stationed at the center of the village, and proceeded to remove her coat, clothing and bindings, slightly hesitant at the sickening thought of undressing a woman in public in the cold. Katara was immediately covered in goosebumps as the cold air slapped her bare skin. She closed her eyes and resolved not to give them the satisfaction of crying or screaming, regardless of the pain. She wanted to show the soldiers and the people just how strong she was, and that nothing they did would ever break her spirit.

The first whip sliced across her bare back, and she held back a whimper. She never expected this type of pain, and didn't know how much she could take. The second whip came and she jumped, but didn't utter a sound. The third. The fourth. The fifth. She stopped counting as her body went limp. She didn't even know that she had been tensing. She prayed that they didn't notice that she wasn't a frail girl beneath her clothes, but that she was quite toned from practicing her bending without their knowledge.

The last whip sliced through her back and cut the deepest of them all, making her whimper slightly, showing that she truly was in pain. She could tell that the soldiers were in awe of her strength and didn't even notice her cry at the end. The first man who had been whipped in the village screamed even when they had stopped whipping him. They cut the ropes and she fell to her knees, not worried about herself, but what the commander was doing to Sokka. She gathered her clothes and put them on, ignoring the sympathetic stares that she was receiving from the other Water Tribe people. She couldn't stand to look at them. As many times as she had defended them when she saw injustice being done to them, she had expected someone to at least speak up for her. But none stepped forward.

Katara began to walk with all her strength back to her home, praying that Sokka had made it back alive. He wasn't back yet. She sighed heavily and walked to her grandmother's house. The village was small compared to what it had been before the Fire Nation soldiers arrived. Each family had their own tent, constructed of wood and wool that the men had hunted out, and each of them was constructed the same in a circle around the well of the village. But since the Fire Nation had arrived, the tents were done away with by red and grey metallic structures that looked more like large cubes for each family to live in. Each "cube" had three separate rooms, two rooms with hard beds, a kitchen, and the main room with a vent at the top for whenever the villagers wanted to light a fire for the evening. Off to the side, outside of the village circle was the Commander's large, red base building with several room and accommodations to keep him and his soldiers comfortable and well-rested.

Gran-Gran was old and sickly and could hardly move from her bed without aid. Katara stepped into the tent and beheld her grandmother, who was being tended to by one of the nurses. Gran-Gran saw Katara enter the tent and motioned for her nurse to leave. The nurse silently bowed and exited the tent without so much as a glance at Katara.

"What have you done, my child?" Gran-Gran asked weakly. Katara sighed, tears threatening to break the threshold of her eyes.

"Nothing Gran-Gran," Katara said, "I was just messing with Sokka. Is that so wrong?"

"Child, you and Sokka are so full of life and energy, this village cannot hold you," Gran-Gran coughed. "It will be the death of you two."

"What are we supposed to do?" Katara asked desperately. "It isn't fair for us to live this way!" The tears began to fall at this point.

"I know my child, but the time will come to make a difference, and when it does, you will know immediately. But until then, silence yourself, and be like the waters, calm and flowing. Water never attacks, unless the dam has been broken."

Katara gave Gran-Gran a confused look. "What does that even mean?"

"You will know in time, Katara. Now let an old lady rest." Katara smiled weakly and gave her grandmother a kiss on her cheek before rising and leaving the tent.

When she reached her own tent, she found Sokka lying on the floor in a pool of blood, and she flew to his side. "Sokka," she muttered weakly, as tears began to fall. She knew she wouldn't be able to do anything about his condition until a few hours later. "Just hold in there for me, Sokka. You can't die on me." She laid beside her brother, not caring about the blood until she fell asleep, hoping she'd wake in a few hours to tend to her brother's wounds.

* * *

Katara woke to her grandmother's nurse leaning over her, shaking her awake. She knew the girl's name, only that she watched over and took over her grandmother.

"It's is a few hours before dawn, hurry, I put all of the guarding soldiers to sleep," the nurse motioned Katara to get up as she began to lift Sokka. He became sticky due to the hardened blood in the cold. Katara jumped up despite her sore back and helped lift Sokka.

The nurse and Katara peaked outside of the tent for signs of any awoken guards, but found them all asleep around the village. Katara and the nurse hurried carried Sokka, with both of his arms around either girls' necks as they raced to a snowy area a few miles outside of the camp.

The pair placed Sokka in the snow and Katara began to frantically remove his winter coating and his shirt. When she assessed his wounds, she found several red, brown and purple bruises all over his torso. His own skin color was no where to be found. Realizing that she had no time to lose, she quickly gathered up some snow via her waterbending and melted it into warm water before pressing her water-covered hands to her brother's chest to heal him. As the water began to glow and Sokka's wounds slowly began to heal, he began heaving and thrashing around in pain unconsciously.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Sokka screamed in pain.

"Hold him down!" Katara yelled at the nurse who immediately ran to his other side to pin his arms down with her own frail arms. She and Katara were instantly thrown away as Sokka awoke and scrambled back in fear, breathing heavily. He was healed slightly, but not enough for him to continue moving on his own. Katara knew that he still wasn't in his right state of mind, so she looked over at the nurse and nodded at her. The nurse uncertainly nodded back.

"Leave me alone!" Sokka yelled frantically, looking back and forth between Katara and the nurse.

"Sokka, it's me, Katara," Katara tried to calm him down. "You're still hurt pretty bad, and I need to finish healing your wounds." He was focused on what Katara was saying so he didn't notice the nurse approach him until she was right up on him. He was about to fling her away when Katara tackled him, giving the nurse time to stick him with a tranquilized twig.

He kicked around under the weight of his sister and the nurse but evenLally fell under the sedation. Katara let out a heavy relieved sigh before continuing to heal him. The nurse did her best to keep his arms down until Katara finished just in case he miraculously woke himself out of the tranquilizer.

"I think that about does it," Katara said, wiping a bit of sweat off her brow. She didn't want to heal his face too much for fear that the Fire Nation would be suspicious of his healed face. She healed it enough to where he would not be discomforted. The nurse admired Katara's work.

"You are truly as wonderful as your grandmother says you are," the nurse said, absentmindedly. Katara looked up at the nurse in curiosity. She never gave the girl much attention, and didn't even care enough to know her name. She was young, maybe three years older than Katara, with short brown hair that was cropped around her face, most likely due to her profession and not needing long hair. Her small eyes donned the deep Water Tribe blue, but hers had a pure nature about them, unlike Katara's, which were fierce, defiant and knew pain. She had a small, frail frame that looked like it could use a good meal, but that wasn't very unusual. Katara and Sokka's body shape differed from most of the Water Tribe due to their intense training.

"What does she say about me?" Katara asked curiously.

"Only that you will do great things, and make a fine wife," the nurse smiled. Katara blushed. She hadn't even been thinking of marriage since there were no men in the village besides Sokka and the Fire Nation soldiers, and they were all completely out of the question. Katara sighed.

"I don't know where she gets all of that information from," she shrugged. "But we should start heading back before anyone notices that we are gone."

The nurse nodded and proceeded to help lift Sokka.

"By the way, I never got your name," Katara looked over at the kind nurse as they made their way back to the village.

"Miko," the nurse answered with a blush. Katara wondered why the girl got so flustered around her when she was older than her. "You know, you're really a princess here amongst the Water Tribe people, despite your brash nature."

Katara's eyes widened as she looked over at the nurse, almost tripping over Sokka's dragging feet. She couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. "How so?"

"Well, you and Sokka are the children of Chief Hakoda. Technically, since Chief is gone, that would make Sokka the Chief, and you the Chieftain." Katara continued her gaze forward and thought about her position, and why her and Sokka got the worst treatment of everyone in the village. If that was true, then it was time she showed her position.

 _Silence yourself … be like the waters. Calm and flowing._

 _Right_ , she thought. _When the time is right, the dam will break._

* * *

"Commander Ji!"

Ji looked up from his war table at his second-in-command solder, whom he had whip Katara, Suko. "What is it?"

"Well sir, how do I put this…" Suko stammered, scratching the back of his head. "I know this might be a strange observation, but Katara was rather … well …"

"Out with it!" Commander Ji bellowed.

"She was rather toned for a girl," Suko spat out. "Most of the ladies – no, people of this Water Tribe are frail and weak, but Katara had muscles, meaning either she's somehow eating well, or… "

"Or working out," Ji finished his statement, settling back in his seat. This was rather interesting. Katara was of marrying age, and although interracial marriage was frowned upon at this time, this Tribe needed to breed more soldiers for the Fire Nation Army. That was part of the reason for them being there. Her and her brother were of age to start making additions. "Very well, have the men keep a _very_ close eye on her and her brother."

"Yes sir."

* * *

"Ahhhhhhahahahaha!" General Iroh laughed heartily as he won yet another game of Pai Sho with one of the soldiers on board the steamboat. "I win again."

"I don't know how he does it!" the soldier huffed in defeat as he rose to allow another soldier to play and be at the mercy of the general. "I'll beat him for sure," he grinned with confidence, only to be beaten in four moves. Iroh let out another laugh and rose from the table.

"That will be enough for today gentlemen, you all have much to learn!"

Another soldier took Iroh's seat as Iroh walked to bow of the ship where his nephew was stationed.

"Uncle!" Prince Zuko yelled as Iroh approached the stern. "I have been searching for you all morning, where have you been?"

"Only enjoying a game of Pai Sho and a drink of tea with your crew," Iroh answered innocently.

Zuko rubbed his eyes and drug his hand down his face. "How many times do I have to tell you that we don't have time for that? That catching the Avatar is top priority?" Iroh sighed.

"Nephew, there has been no sign of the Avatar in at least a century. I'm sure taking some time off to bond with your crew will not delay your search."

"And what if the Avatar flies right over our heads while we're all below decks playing with tiles?" Zuko asks incredulously. "We have to be aware and alert at all times!"

"Nephew, how long as it been since you've had any enjoyment? Even so much as a lady in your quarters?"

Zuko blushed. "I've had no such thing!" he exclaimed, flustered. "Whatever, do want you want!"

Zuko stormed off and continued to watch the seas in hopes of the Avatar maybe showing up and releasing him from his obsession. Iroh made note of his nephew's appearance. He'd grown rugged since they first set out. He was beginning to look less like a prince and more like a savage with every passing year. He had stopped shaving his head, and eventually let it grow out, matted and unkempt. Occasionally, he would put it up into a man-ponytail whenever they stopped at a village or city at his uncle's instruction. His build was kept strong through his intense firebending sessions. He occasionally sparred with his men, and held mini tournaments on board his ship for the sake of keeping up everyone's strength.

Iroh was amazed at his nephew's dedication, however, he wished that his dedication was directed towards the right things, instead of for a false sense of honor. He shook his head and continued down to his own quarters.

A few minutes later, he heard a knock at his door. Surprised, Iroh granted the knocker permission to enter. Zuko stepped in with a soft look in his eye, much to Iroh's surprise.

"Spar with me, Uncle," Zuko invited. Iroh smiled widely.

"It would be my pleasure."

* * *

Sokka awoke in his room, feeling much better than he did when he entered the tent. He didn't even remember entering his room. He sat up and immediately regretted it as a splitting headache cut its way through his head.

"Ahh," he hissed as he laid back down on his side, and saw a bowl of water with some medicine lying next to it. He decided they were there to ease the headache and immediate took the medicine, gulping the water down after it. It was at that moment that he remembered his sister was whipped the night before and immediately jumped out of his bed despite the headache.

He rushed to his sister's room and found her being tended to by the nurse, who's name he didn't remember. The nurse turned around and saw him standing there and immediately frowned.

"Privacy, sir! Your sister isn't dressed!"

Sokka flew out of the room as several items were flown his way.

"Sheesh, women!" Sokka exclaimed as he sat in the main room of their home, waiting for his sister to be finished. When they finally walked out, he stood and ran to hug Katara, earning a hiss.

"I'm not as healed as you are, Sokka," Katara muttered.

"Sorry," he apologized, letting go. "I'm just glad you're okay. What happened to you?"

"I'd rather not talk about it. Besides, you look like you've seen your fair share of trouble. I had to heal you last night."

Sokka's color drained. "You didn't get caught?"

"No, Miko made sure of that." Miko bowed in acknowledgement.

"It's always an honor to help anyone in your family," Miko quipped. "However, seeing how you two keep up strength, one can only assume that you've been breaking some major rules by training yourselves how to fight."

Sokka's eyes narrowed, not knowing if he should trust Miko.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't tell anyone," Miko laughed nervously. "But I think you guys should keep it up, just in case. Your grandmother is already aware of it, but I always thought she meant it metaphorically. You guys are really some people to look up to here in the village."

Sokka chuckled sarcastically as he turned around to straighten up their house. "Who looks up to us? You? No one else here in the village gives a damn about us. We defend them, they leave us in the dust whenever something goes down. Their scared, and they don't realize that there are so many of us, that if we all worked together, we could rid this village of the Fire Nation."

Miko's eyes widened at this crazy thought. "You're strong-willed, but that is impossible. The people in this village are under-fed and weak. There's no way they would ever lead a revolt. But you and Katara hold this village together."

"You mean we keep the attention of the soldiers away from them, right?" Sokka asked, getting angry.

"Sokka... calm down," Katara put a calming hand on his arm. Sokka sighed, realizing he got carried away.

"I'm just tired of living in subjection like this, it isn't right."

Katara smiled at him. "Let's go blow off some steam."

A few minutes later after sneaking out of the village to their usual place, Katara set her coat down and laid in the snow so she could heal her back the way she needed to. Sokka waited patiently, putting on his father's Water Tribe armor and wrapping his hands. The chest plate was grey and blue with the symbol of the Southern Water tribe inscribed on either side of the shoulder plates. The armor was thick, yet light and flexible, which gave Sokka the movement he needed to fight with without being stiff

Katara sat up, feeling much more agile and mobile. She, too, wrapped her hands and ankles, and put on some light regular Water Tribe armor. It wasn't as fancy as Sokka's, as it was only grey, and didn't even have the Water Tribe inscription on it, but it was effective enough for Katara. She braided her hair up so that it wouldn't be in the way during the fight.

"You won't win this time," Katara boasted, as she raised her fists and took a defensive fighting stance.

"Yeah, yeah, as long as you don't splash me with that water voodoo stuff, we're good," Sokka quipped as he took a more offensive fighting stance.

Katara charged and as soon as she saw her brother's fist coming, she dropped into a slide, and swept his feet with her right leg. She immediately stood back up in time to dodge a swirl kick from Sokka as he twist-kicked to get back up.

"It's not voodoo water stuff!" Katara laughed as she repeatedly dodged incoming swings from her brother before dipping and delivering an uppercut to his chin, sending him flying back and into the soft, yet cold snow.

"It's waterbending," She quipped as she stood over him, flipping her braided from in front of her shoulder. Sokka immediate took her pause to his advantage and swiped her legs with his arm. They both stood, and Katara switched to the offensive and began delivered forward punches, all which were parried and dodged by Sokka, until she threw a side kick with her right leg, which he caught and twisted until she fell over into the snow.

"I really don't care what you call it, it's creepy," Sokka chuckled at his sister struggling to get up. Katara sat up with a sly grin as she sent snow flying into his face, and while he was blinded she stood and threw another kick which Sokka still caught with both of his hands, even in his blinded state. Katara gasped as she found herself twisted into the snow again. They continued their fight, each getting a few good licks in, but neither really trying to hurt the other.

Toward the end of their session, Sokka removed his sword from its sheath as Katara crafted her own ice sword. They both charged at each other, but before their swords could clash, Katara grinned and solidified the snow beneath Sokka's feet and made him slip and fall on his behind.

Katara burst out into laughter, falling back into the snow, holding her sides.

"What'd I say about –"

Suddenly, the ice beneath Sokka cracked and Sokka found himself sinking under the water due to his heavy armor. He heard his sister scream his name as he scrambled beneath the water in a futile attempt to resurface. He held his breath and tried to undo the armor so that he could properly swim but failed.

 _Is this it? Is this how I die?_ Sokka thought to himself as he sank farther and farther into the freezing abyss beneath the snow. He could hardly see the hole he fell through anymore. He was sinking too fast. As soon as he closed his eyes, his back came into contact with a hard rock that sent a shock through his entire body. There was a glow behind him, and he was sure that he was in the afterlife.

He suddenly saw a young boy before him with his eyes closed, bald with blue arrows all over his body.

"You are the Avatar."

Suddenly the boy's eyes opened, and they glowed bright along with his arrows.

Next thing Sokka knew, he was being slapped in the face by a concerned sister. "Ugh, you idiot!" Katara scolded. "You could have died!"

"Well you shouldn't have used your creepy water voodoo!"

"It's not voodoo! But you shouldn't have drawn your sword, you know I can't sword-fight!"

"Wait!"

"And you shouldn't have – huh?" Katara stopped arguing due to the serious look on Sokka's face.

"There's something down there, a rock, or something, we have to go get it," Sokka said, looking back down in the hole he fell through.

"Are you insane? Do you know how far I had to swim to get you, not to mention, you're most likely going to be sick since you just got out of some freezing cold water," Katara scolded.

"Yes, mother dearest, but seriously, whatever is down there is important… I just feel it," Sokka looked at Katara sincerely. Sokka hardly ever came close to saying please about anything, so Katara found it hard not to comply. Katara sighed. "Alright, fine!" she finally conceded. "But you're staying here."

Katara dove beneath the water, using her bending to propel her further and further beneath the surface until she reached the rock Sokka spoke of, which turned out to be a ball of ice. She couldn't see it very well, but she could tell it was very large. Larger than she was able to bend out. Katara made a waterbending motion beneath the water and attempted to raise the ball out of the water, but it was much too large and her waterbending wasn't that advanced. She looked around and decided that she would have to break it open. She realized she was running out of breath and needed to work fast.

Katara formed a large ice sword in her hands, raised her arms above her head, and with the strength of her waterbending, struck the ice as hard as she could, splitting the ice in half as it began to glow. Katara stared at the ice in awe as a large beam shot out from the ice, above the surface, and into the sky. _Uh oh._

Katara swam to the surface and was assisted by Sokka in getting out of the water.

"What the hell did you do?" Sokka asked, worried that they would be found out.

"I don't know, I don't know!" Katara cradled her head, frantically. She was already cold from being in the freezing water. "We should head back to the village in case we're missed." Sokka nodded in agreement, but paused as he saw a boy trying to climb out of the water.

"Katara!" Katara looked back and ran with Sokka to help the boy out of the water.

Sokka took off his coat and wrapped it around the boy, who was shivering uncontrollably. He was bald with blue arrows that came across the top of his head, and down the length of his arms. He was also clad in orange and yellow garments that were unfamiliar to Katara and Sokka.

"Who are you?" Katara asked as she helped to warm the boy.

He looked up at her and Sokka with large grey eyes.

"I don't know," was the boy's solemn response.

Neither Sokka nor Katara noticed the Fire Nation soldier watching the entire ordeal from afar.

* * *

Fire met fire as the two firebending masters carried out their bout. Several soldiers were lined up on the balcony of the sparring chambers, placing their bets on who they believed would win. Most placed bets on the General, the Dragon of the West. Others believed Zuko had a chance. But none of them would get their answer, because before the fight was over, a soldier from the deck ran below and announced the sighting of a large beam.

"Could it be the return of the Avatar?" Several of the soldiers muttered amongst themselves.

Zuko and Iroh stopped fighting, and ran to the bow on high alert to see the phenomena for themselves.

The green beam shined bright against their eyes and left the clouds in ringlets in its wake.

"It's beautiful," one of the soldiers admitted. Zuko scoffed. It was strange enough. Strange enough to be a sign from the Avatar.

"Change our course to follow that beam," Zuko ordered.

"Aye, sir."

"Sir, it seems to be near the Southern Water Tribe," another soldier reported.

Zuko smiled, raising concerned among Iroh and the crew. _The Southern Water Tribe has already been taken over by the Fire Nation,_ Zuko thought happily to himself, _extraction should be simple, especially if they're already on the case._

"Why is he smiling?" one soldier whispered to another, who shrugged.

"I don't know, but it's creepy."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

 **This will be a really, really, long story extending through all three books plus one more. Taang, Zutara, and Sokki are all to be expected by the end =)**

 **Feedback is more than welcome.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or its characters, I own my OCs.**

* * *

 _Rain crashed upon his bald head harder than he ever remembered rain being able to fall. Why was it raining so hard? Where was he going? He was being carried by Appa through the storm over the oceans. Why did his eyes sting? Were those tears? Why was he crying? He could tell that Appa was getting tired, almost too tired to carry on any longer. What were they running from?_

His eyes snapped open and he was greeted with some very beautiful bright blue eyes hovering over him.

"Oh good, you're awake," the woman said with a very sweet, relieved voice. She was brown-skinned, and tiny with short brown hair. He couldn't find anyone in his memory resembling anything like her. "My name is Miko, do you remember anything?"

The boy shook his head. He looked down at himself, clad in a large blue winter coat, and brown boots that were a few sizes too big, as his toes came no where near close to the top.

"Oh, those are Sokka's extra clothes," Miko apologized. "Yours were soaking wet, and we had to immediately bring you back to the village before anyone noticed you."

"Are we hiding?" he asked.

"Well, yes, we are," Miko explained, not wanting to say too much in case the kid couldn't be trusted.

Suddenly another brown-skinned woman and man entered the tent with worried looks on their faces. The woman was even more beautiful than the nurse with her longer brown tresses that looked rather wild on her, but it was astonishing to behold. He felt his face heat up on its own. He looked at the man who followed behind her and found that he had similar features to the woman, with smaller blue eyes, and a head that was shaven around the sides and back, allowing the hair at the top to be pulled back into a ponytail. He decided that he must have been her husband. _Who are these people? Why are they helping me?_ He didn't even know who he was himself.

"I was afraid you wouldn't make it," the other woman spoke to him with a soft voice as she approached him with a bowl in her hand. The bowl was filled with greenish water with lumps of some questionable sea animal sloshing around on the inside. "Eat that up, you look as though you could use a good meal," she ordered.

The boy grabbed the bowl and gulped hard before slurping the entire thing down. He didn't care how bad it was. He was starving.

"My name is Katara, and this is my brother, Sokka," the woman introduced herself and the man. _Brother? That means I still have a chance!_ The boy finished his meal and happily placed the bowl down and assumed a meditating position with his legs crossed and his arms down on his knees as he looked up at his saviors.

"I can't thank you enough for your hospitality, but I must leave here," he stated affirmatively. The hosts all looked amongst one another.

"And go where?" the one named Sokka spoke up. His voice was deep and serious, and sent a shudder through his spine. "This place is crawling with Fire Nation soldiers. If any of them were to catch you leaving, you would immediately be reported to Commander Ji and most likely hung for trespassing."

The boy looked at them in surprise. "The Fire Nation? Why would they do something like that? They're good people."

"I don't know who are you are, or how long you've been in that ice, but there is nothing good about the Fire Nation," Katara said with spite lace in her voice. She sounded almost as menacing as her brother. "They've held us captive here since I can remember."

" _You mustn't leave, sir! The world needs you!"_

" _The world hasn't needed me in centuries," he spat back._

" _Aang, come back!"_

The boy grabbed his head as a splitting headache rippled through his skull. _Aang. That's my name._ He looked around at Miko, Katara and Sokka. "I don't know how long I've been in that ice either, but I know that before I was frozen, I was headed somewhere very important. I had my flying bison, and my staff and all of my belongings. I was going somewhere…"

He began to look around frantically. "Where are my things?"

Katara stood and walked to the back of the room and returned will his staff and a sack. "We can't hold you here against your will, but we can strongly advise against you leaving at the moment. At least wait until it gets a little darker so that we can sneak you out."

Suddenly there was a loud bang at the door. "Sokka and Katara, Commander Ji wants to see you, now!"

Katara and Sokka looked at each other in fear of being found out. They told the boy to stay hidden, and for the nurse to keep an eye on them as they walked out of the house and were escorted by the soldier to Commander Ji. Sokka had to walk with a pretend limp to keep up the charade that he was injured. When they entered Commander Ji's room, they found him smoking in his seat before his war table.

"So," Ji began, "I'm informed that neither of you were to be found during the spectacle with the bright light that shot into the sky earlier. So tell me – " he spat out the cigar, "where the fuck were you?"

Katara swallowed, but Sokka stood firm. "We were fishing. We just brought back fish for the village. We do it every week."

"Huh. That's funny, because my soldiers know where you both fish, and nobody saw you."

Katara stepped forward. "Sokka fell into the water."

One of the guards in the corner of the room snorted. Sokka's face turned red at the embarrassment that his sister was about to lay upon him.

"He doesn't swim very well, and when he fell into the water, I had to swim down to get him," Katara continued. "Our wet clothes are still hanging behind our house, you can check."

Ji didn't appear convinced; however, he didn't press the issue, which made Katara even more nervous than before.

"As I stated yesterday, Sokka, you are coming of the age to where it is time for you to be trained and sent off to the war as we do with the men of this village. Seeing as how you're the only man here, it has come to my attention that we don't have anyone here breeding anymore soldiers, at which point, I have orders to eliminate the village."

Katara and Sokka's eyes widened. Katara was about to shove an ice shard through his heart when he raised a hand. "However, a few of my soldiers have become cozy here and have their eyes on a few women of the village, and would like to rectify this issue without violence."

Sokka's eyes narrowed at what this man was insinuating. "Your Fire Nation filth army want to sleep with the women of the Water Tribe? You sick bast – "

"What does it matter?" Ji chuckled. "These men are hungry. They haven't had the satisfaction of a woman in their beds since they came here almost 20 years ago. What does it matter the race?"

Katara felt the rage rise in her that she also observed on Sokka's face. She knew he would give up the fact that he wasn't still hurt if she let him do what she believed he was about to do. She grabbed his arm. "It's okay, Sokka." She knew it wasn't, but she had to get him to calm down.

"She's right," Ji said sharpening his sword. "You won't even be here to see your sister be defiled."

Katara didn't even want to see how her brother react to that.

"You may leave. Sokka, your training begins tomorrow," Ji dismissed them with a nonchalant wave.

"Who the hell does he think he is?" Sokka muttered angrily, kicking up a wad of snow when they reached outside.

As they approached their house, they saw one of the soldiers leaving their grandmother's home with a smile on his face. Katara and Sokka waited until the soldier was out of sight before dashing to their grandmother's home.

"Gran-Gran, are you alright?" Katara heaved as she came to her grandmother's side, Sokka on the other.

"Why yes, I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"We saw a Fire Nation soldier leave here, and so we didn't know what to think," Sokka explained, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, Buran? He just came in to read me a poem," Gran-Gran chuckled.

Katara and Sokka both looked at her in surprise.

"Oh, come now, all of those men out there aren't all bad, they just have to look bad in front of that Commander of theirs. Buran has been coming in and helping Miko for the longest. No telling where I would be without the two of them."

Katara blinked. "Well Gran-Gran, as long as he didn't hurt you, we'll leave him alone."

"That reminds me," Gran-Gran slowly brought herself up into a sitting position. "Buran had been given orders to spy on the both of you, and to my request, he has not told Ji anything that the both of you have been up to. He told me that the both of you have brought a strange boy into the village after that light had shined above. I hope you both know that you have set off a chain of events that cannot be stopped at this point."

"What do you mean, Gran?" Katara asked, leaning in and covering her grandmother's hand with her own.

Gran-Gran smiled weakly at Katara. "You will be leaving me soon, and you will change the world as the four nations know it." Sokka shook his head.

"Katara isn't going anywhere, Gran, but they will be sending me off to fight in the war soon."

There began a commotion outside, and Sokka immediately stood and peered outside to see what was going on, Katara following close behind. There was another Fire Nation ship that docked their port, and more soldiers could be seen walking from the ship. Every soldier who was already in the village began to bow as a man with exquisite Fire Nation armor walked off the ship with a poised stature that spoke of royalty.

"All hail Prince Zuko!"

"Shit!" Sokka cursed as he ran and kissed Gran-Gran's forehead. "I'll be back, Gran." He dashed out of the house and sneakily returned to his own home where Miko and the boy were, propped against the wall beneath the window where they couldn't be seen.

"We have to get you out of here, I think the Prince is here looking for you," Sokka gathered the boy up, and pulled the hood over his head. "We have to look as inconspicuous as possible." He decided that it would be best to blend in with the crowding villagers, so they didn't look suspicious for staying indoors during the spectacle.

Sokka, Miko, and the kid all walked out and joined the rest of the villagers, who were few in number, rounding to maybe one hundred people including women and children. They all stood before the Prince before all bowing as well. The boy stood tall, and Sokka had to push his back down to keep him from getting caught. He cursed under his breath for being placed in this situation in the first place.

"You may all rise," came the Prince's calm, husky voice He kept his helmet on, and if his armor hadn't been unique, Sokka would have assumed him to be another regular soldier. "As you are all aware, there was a very bright light that shot up from this area, and I could see it myself from a few miles out. I have reason to believe it is the Avatar, and if any of you are harboring _it_ here, you must turn it in to me now."

His voice took a hard tone toward the end of his sentence. Sokka didn't think about the fact that the boy could have been the Avatar, however it would make sense considering what happened when he hit the ice that the boy was lodged in. The boy looked over at Sokka in curiosity. "Sokka?" he whispered. "I caused that light right? Am I the Avatar?"

"I don't know," Sokka whispered back.

"You there!" One of the soldiers from the prince's ship pointed at Katara, who had just walked out of Gran-Gran's tent. "Why are you just now coming out to greet your prince?"

"He's no prince of mine," Katara spat defiantly.

"Shut up Katara," Sokka muttered to himself, hoping she'd hear his silent prayer. She didn't.

"What are you hiding in that house, wench?" the soldier demanded.

"I'm not hiding anything here. My grandmother is old and sick, and I tend to her."

Prince Zuko eyed her for a moment before giving his orders. "I send out a party to search this village for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. I will stay here one night, and if we find nothing, I will be gone by the morning. You have your orders." Everyone scattered about, villagers returning home, and soldiers setting up search parties.

"This isn't good," Sokka said to himself as he led the boy back to their home, where Katara joined him.

* * *

"Commander Ji."

Ji turned around from his place at the window that watched over the entire village. "The Banished Prince Zuko, and the Rejected General Iroh. What an honor it is to have you visit me in my home."

"Yes, the honor is certainly all yours," Iroh retorted with a genuine smile.

Zuko heard every bit of the sarcastic spite in the man's voice but ignored it. "Surely your men would have found something regarding that light from earlier, would they not? I hoped they wouldn't all be idiots."

Ji's eyebrow twitched. "They have come across a suspicious pair. The Water Tribe siblings. Those two stay in trouble with the soldiers around here. You can automatically assume that they were involved in just about anything that goes on around here."

"Is there any tea around here?" Iroh asked sitting back in one of the bear hide-covered seats, and rubbing his rounded belly.

"Miko, the village nurse, makes the best tea around here, I will send for her," Ji said, nodding to one of his soldiers.

"About these siblings, how do you know they're involved?" Zuko asked curiously.

"I just know," Ji responded as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Zuko thought about it for a moment. "Send them here."

* * *

"He's going to draw attention to himself when they show up, he's got freaking arrows all over his body!" Sokka exclaimed to Katara, who was in deep thought on how they could rectify this situation.

"As long as we keep the hood over his head, it should be fine," Katara said, much more confidently than she felt. "I'm sure they won't be looking as hard as you think, these soldiers get lazy when they aren't being monitored."

"Yeah, the soldiers here do. We don't know how the prince's soldiers operate."

Katara sighed in defeat. If they were caught with the kid, they would undoubtedly be severely punished. She looked over at the boy, who didn't speak, but sat in Indian-style and watched them argue about what to do with him. She figured that he had to have understood the situation at this point. He didn't even remember his own name, so there wasn't much he would be able to do in regard to decision-making. She looked over his tattoos and realized that she had seen them somewhere before, but she couldn't remember where or what they meant. She didn't have time to dwell on it long either, as they needed to think of an escape route for the boy before the soldiers reached their house.

"Sokka and Katara, the prince requests an audience with the two of you," a soldier called softly from outside. Katara and Sokka froze and looked at one another. They had been found out for sure this time.

When they stepped outside, they were greeted with the soldier that they had seen leaving their grandmother's house, Buran. Sokka glowered down at the soldier.

"What does he want with us?" Sokka asked suspiciously.

"Well, Commander Ji didn't buy your story earlier," Buran shrugged, leading them back to Ji's. "Don't give them straight answers." He immediately straightened up and shoved them in the room when they reached Ji's base.

Katara, just as confused as Sokka, continued to the room with the prince, Ji, and another elderly man.

"My, you are a beautiful young lady," the older man in the room said kindly, too kindly for Katara's comfortability.

"Thanks," she responded awkwardly, not being able to remember a time when anyone but her father called her beautiful.

"We aren't here for flattery, uncle," came the prince's husky voice. "We're here for the Avatar. And you will hand it over to us."

"Are you crazy?" Katara asked incredulously and shaking at her audacity. _What am I doing?!_ "The Avatar hasn't been seen or heard from in over a century now. Why would we have him?" She stood defiantly and crossed her arms. "Or her?"

Prince Zuko's eyes narrowed as he stood and approached the two. "You're hiding something. Maybe it's not the Avatar, but you're full of secrets," he said in a calm voice to Katara, then looked over at Sokka. "Both of you are."

"Name someone who isn't," Katara spoke up. "We all have lives, a past, skeletons in our closets. Is that so unusual, Prince Zuko?" she asked just as calmly. He stared at her for a moment before returning to his seat.

"Have their house searched immediately," Zuko ordered. Katara silently muttered no, and she could tell that Sokka had half a mind to stop that soldier, but neither of them moved as two guards walked out of the room and made their way to Sokka and Katara's house.

Katara's heart pounded inhumanly fast within her chest, and she could feel her breath giving way in fear of being found out. She wasn't ready to die, and she didn't want the kid or Sokka to die either. She prepared herself to be ready to use her waterbending whenever they entered the room.

"Sir! We found this boy with strange arrows on his head in their house."

Katara's heart dropped, but before she could speak up, the kid spoke first.

"I'm sorry, I got hungry and lost, and wandered into the nearest house. They had fish," the kid said with a goofy grin. "I wasn't trying to cause any trouble."

Zuko narrowed his eyes. Katara was on the verge of tears as she realized what the kid was doing. Sokka was also motionless. They both had half a mind to die along with the boy.

"Where do you come from, boy?" Zuko asked cautiously. The kid shrugged, "An iceberg. I broke out and this bright light came from it. Crazy, huh?"

Sokka mentally slapped his face. _He could have said anything!_

Zuko smirked victoriously. "Yeah, that's pretty crazy. Let's go, Uncle. We're taking this boy." The old man sighed heavily before standing and bowing to Katara and Sokka. Katara wanted to move so much as she watched the helpless kid get taken away by the Fire Nation. He didn't know the horrors of what they were capable of and what they would potentially do to him. He didn't know anything, yet he was so calm, and brave. Katara threatened to cry in that very moment, but didn't for the sake of giving them all away.

"You two may go home," Ji said with an unresolved tongue. "I know you two had something to do with that boy, and I will find out for sure."

"Yeah, good luck with that," Sokka said as they walked out and went home.

* * *

"Prince Zuko!"

Zuko turned around as he was greeted by one of the soldiers of the village. He was rather thick for a soldier, and was out of breath just trying to keep up with him.

"What is it soldier?" Zuko asked impatiently.

"It's about Commander Ji," the soldier breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath. "He's... he's planning on using his soldiers – " he let out a few huffs, "He's using his soldiers to sleep with the women of the village to create more soldiers."

Zuko's eyes widened and then hardened. He was glad to be given the opportunity to punish Ji for his insolence. "Thank you for informing me. What is your name?"

"Buran, sir," the soldier stood straight with a goofy grin.

"Well, Buran, you've just been promoted to Commander of this village," Zuko said, granting himself the happiest smile he's seen on a soldier's face. It was almost repulsive.

"Th-thank you, sir!" Buran bowed graciously.

"Kiota," Zuko called ahead to his own commander.

"Sir!"

"Tell my uncle I will be on in a moment. There's something I need to handle."

"Aye, sir!"

Zuko walked off of the ship and looked around at the villagers who looked frightened that he had returned. He typically didn't mind the level intimidation he gave off, but these people were more than frightened. They were frightened and defeated in every way. He looked over and saw the young Water Tribe woman glaring daggers at him as she leaned against one the houses with her arms crossed. Well, maybe not in every way.

Zuko entered Commander Ji's tent and motioned for his own guards to enter and arrest the man.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ji asked the prince as he struggled against the restraints. "You're a banished prince with no authority! You can't arrest me for anything."

"I think," Prince Zuko began calmly, "The fact that you would allow your men to sleep with the women of this tribe is punishable enough by anyone's standards."

Commander Ji's eyes widened. "Who told you that? That's a lie!"

"I don't care if it's a lie or not. You're being detained on my ship." Zuko looked over at his guards. "Tell the villagers there's a new man in charge, and let's go."

"People of the Southern Water Tribe!" one of Zuko's soldiers began as a crowd of Water Tribe villagers began to gather around curiously. Katara watched from her place by her home, and Sokka didn't care enough to come outside. "Commander Ji has been detained for breaking a Fire Nation law. Therefore, you will all now be placed in the care of Commander Buran."

Smiles went around the villagers, as Katara had come to know that he had been kind to them all. She could get used to this change. But she didn't plan on staying long enough to hear about the change. She and Sokka were going after the boy. She eyed Zuko as he made his way back to his ship. He wasn't getting away with anything.

* * *

"Is everything ready?" Katara asked Sokka as she tied up her coat and slung her sack over her shoulder. Sokka had just finished wrapping his wrists and hands and put his armor on. They had packed a few days' worth of items that should carry them to the ship, and once they rescued the boy, they knew they wouldn't be able to return to the village.

"Yeah, we're good to go," Sokka replied, snatching up his own sack. "Are you sure you want to do this? We've never set foot outside the village without the intent of coming back. Much less leaving Gran-Gran like this."

"This is a hard decision for me, too, Sokka," Katara confessed, not facing him, "but I feel like the world depends on it if we don't. Gran-Gran has Miko and Buran, so she's not completely alone." She looked up at her brother in confidence. "We can do this." Sokka nodded. They were all they had left, and if either one of them lost the other, neither of them would ever be able to move on.

They both peered out for guards but found none, as they all seemed to be inside the base building having a party for their new commander. The pair crept out and made their way to Gran-Gran's tent, and walked in, careful not to wake her if she were sleep. To their surprise, she was wide awake and sitting up beside Miko.

"My children," she spoke with a strong smile. "I bid you a good journey." Katara was the first to begin crying as she embraced the old woman.

"I'm going to miss you Gran-Gran," Katara sniffed.

"As will I," she replied with a hint of sadness in her voice. "I need to give you both something before you leave. Buran managed to bring me these awhile back when I told him that you might have been leaving."

Miko presented them with a box that neither Katara or Sokka had seen since their father opened it to read them a scroll before bed. Sokka took the box and opened it, finding maps, tales of old, and a few scrolls on fighting techniques. He smiled at Gran-Gran and embraced her along with his sister.

"We will be back for you, you better count on it," Sokka said into her soft, light gray hair, holding back his own tears. They all hugged one last time before Katara and Sokka made their way outside of the house and out into the snowy outdoors.


End file.
